Doodhi chana nu shaak

When people say “Ooh I love my veggies” when the only “veggies” (how I hate that word) they’re eating is onions and tomatoes, it just makes me want to thrust a brinjal or two in their face. I hate brinjals, btw. Nothing against onions or tomatoes, I too use them quite a bit, but in my world they’re faux vegetables. I think they enhance a lot of preparations, but by themselves they kind of fall short. Sure you can live on onions and tomatoes, but then please don’t say “I love my veggies”. At least not in front of me, okay?

So, the other day I prepared this curry that used to be a regular affair at home. No fancy masalas, no overpowering flavours, just a simple homely everyday kind of dish this. Goes perfectly with phulkas or parathas.

For making doodhi chana nu shaak (for 3 people), you’ll need:

1. 1 medium doodhi (lauki), peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes (roughly 2 cups of chopped doodhi)
2. 3/4 cup chana dal (bengal gram dal), soaked in lukewarm water for 15 minutes*
3. 1/2 tomato, cubed
4. 1 tbsp oil
5. 1 tsp rai (mustard seeds)
6. 1 tsp haldi powder (turmeric powder)
7. 1 tsp mirch powder (red chilly powder)
8. 1 tsp dhana-jeeru or coriander powder
9. Salt to taste

Heat oil in a kadai and pop in the rai, haldi, mirch and dhana-jeeru. Add the doodhi cubes and soaked chana dal. Add 1.5 cups of water, salt and close the lid. Let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Adjust water and salt and cook till the dal is tender but still intact, not mushy.**

Add tomatoes and let it simmer for another minute or two and that’s all. It really is this simple.

*You can soak the dal first and then start the chopping of vegetables, so that it’ll be soaked and ready when you’re done cutting the vegetables.

**If you can cook the dal in cooker perfectly with the exact water and whistle ratios so that it gets soft, but not mushy, then you can further reduce the cooking time. The doodhi hardly takes 5 minutes to cook. You can just add the cooked chana dal once its cooked.

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